Before a Senate hearing featuring Jack Smith on Tuesday, where the former Biden-appointed special counsel was grilled by Republican lawmakers over his investigations into President Trump and the targeting of Republican politicians and media outlets, MS NOW host Stephanie Ruhle proclaimed there was “nothing unusual” about Smith’s actions. Investigative reporter Carol Leonnig also complained about Republicans painting Smith as a “Democrat, like Obama and Biden.”
The whole of Tuesday’s Money, Power, Politics focused on the Smith hearing, without mention of Smith’s targeting of records from conservatives, like the Media Research Center, in his Arctic Frost investigation.
But nevertheless, Ruhel and Leonnig ran defense for Smith and insisted he was not a political actor. In the prolonged pre-game for the hearing, Leonnig mockingly described the Republicans' goal:
Before the Jack Smith hearing, MS NOW investigative reporter Carol Leonnig defended the former special counsel and claimed there is no evidence that “he’s a Democrat along with Obama and Biden," before Stephanie Ruhle proclaimed, “There was nothing unusual about this… pic.twitter.com/RJ0Mr4mB7M
— Nick (@nspin310) September 29, 2026
But the power of this moment for Republicans is essentially: “Hey, let's continue to slime Democrats, and let's continue to say that somebody in the Obama/Biden administration, which is part of that grand conspiracy case, we can talk about a little bit later. This is how Democratic presidents weaponize the administration and went after Donald Trump.”
Leonnig then clarified, “even though this is not true,” as she read Smith’s statement that claimed that he was “no partisan.” She later continued to explain the GOP’s claims: “This is a chance to claim that he's a Democrat along with Obama and Biden. And it was all an effort to smear Donald Trump.”
Ruhle interjected, “Claim it! But as you said,” as Leonnig responded, “Cannot prove it,” and laughed.
Ruhle then minimized any thought of Smith doing anything wrong, as she echoed liberal disdain for Smith not quickly getting a Trump conviction:
There was nothing unusual about this investigation. In fact, he was going overboard, potentially, to cross the T's and dot his I’s, which frustrated many.
Nothing unusual, except for obtaining text messages from Republican congresspeople for media outlets.
Leonning continued to explain the “frustration” with Smith, and claimed Smith should have tried the Trump classified records case in DC instead of Florida:
He actually decided to bring this case in Florida, the classified records case, when he could have brought it in DC. Prosecutors who were trained national security lawyers basically said, that worked on his team, “What are you doing?” This is a terrible idea to go to Florida because we might likely get Judge Aileen Cannon, and then the case is dead.
Leonnig closed with claims that Smith wanted to be fair: “And here he was going to Florida because it was the fairer thing. He didn't want to appear to be going to a Democratic, basically, jury, right, in DC. He wanted to show the world my facts stack up.”
Even while defending Smith against the grilling he was about to receive on Capitol Hill, MS NOW showed their clear want of Trump’s imprisonment.
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
MS NOW’s Money, Power, Politics
September 29, 2026
9:16:08 AM Eastern
(...)
CAROL LEONNIG: But the power of this moment for Republicans is essentially, ‘Hey, let's continue to slime Democrats.’ And let's continue to say that somebody in the Obama/Biden administration, which is part of that grand conspiracy case we can talk about a little bit later, this is how Democratic presidents weaponize the administration and went after Donald Trump. This is how Jack Smith is just - even though this is not true.
Jack Smith is going to say in his opening statement, ‘I'm no partisan. I'm just an investigator, a career guy for two decades.’ This is a chance to claim that he's a Democrat along with Obama and Biden. And it was all an effort to smear Donald Trump –
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Claim it! But as you said,
LEONNIG: Cannot prove it. [Laughter]
RUHLE: - There was nothing unusual about this investigation. In fact, he was going overboard, potentially, to cross the T's and dot his I’s, which frustrated many.
LISA RUBIN: And yes, to answer your question –
LEONNIG: Yes, it did. In fact, in that frustration, Steph, I wrote a while ago -
[To Rubin] I apologize.
RUBIN: Go ahead.
LEONNIG: He actually decided to bring this case in Florida, the classified records case, when he could have brought it in DC. Prosecutors who were trained national security lawyers basically said, ‘What are you doing - that worked on his team - what are you doing? This is a terrible idea to go to Florida because we might likely get Judge Aileen Cannon, and then the case is dead. And that's what they were saying internally. Nobody knew it at the time, but we reported it not long after.
My facts stack up, that show hundreds and hundreds of pages of some of the most secure government secrets that only a handful of people can even look at. Some national security prosecutors who were trained in counterintelligence didn't have the authority to look at some of these documents in Donald Trump's shower.
(...)
